Karma Has Nothing on Retrospect
by Diary
Summary: Re-posted. Tiny, swishy kids eventually grow up, and then, they do things like visit the ex-boyfriend their mentor cheated on. Complete.


Disclaimer: I do not own Ugly Betty.

...

In retrospect, Marc should have known getting drunk around Justin was a bad idea.

Marc tends to get weepy, and Justin is a Suarez. The Suarez's have this habit of getting involved in the lives of other people even when those people don't particularly want them involved.

If it helps, he was already half-drunk when Justin showed up, wanting to show Marc the DVD he recorded of his school's cheerleading squad. Marc had tried to shoo him away, but it was all, Oh, my God, you're drunk, and, Did you, at least, coat your stomach with milk, first, and then, Why are you drunk, and I'm so calling Mom.

After giving him money for cab fare, Marc had tried to shoo him away, again.

Justin, however, had insisted on making coffee, locking Marc in the bathroom as he did so. Luckily or unluckily, Marc had had half a bottle of champagne stored in his medicine cabinet. Being half-drunk had made it seem like a good idea to drink it.

That brilliant idea had led to him puking in the bathtub, crying about how Cliff was the only person besides Mandy who really saw him and still loved him. At one point, he decided he should start having sex with women until he learned how to be good at it so that he and Amanda could just get married and adopt Mexican babies.

The little fashion elf that refused to leave had sat on the toilet lid, patting Marc's back and advising him that his whole plan of having casual sex with women was completely insane. Marc responded by pointing out that, at least, he'd never cheat on Amanda. He has horrible luck getting laid with men, and he doesn't really want to have sex with women.

At some point, he realised he was talking about sex with a sixteen-year-old.

Rolling his eyes, Justin had continued patting his back, assuring him that Betty, Mom, and Grandpa had all sat him down together one night, red, fidgeting, and babbling. They'd explained in clinical details about how babies were made and how two men sometimes expressed affection. Apparently, the experience is still somewhat traumatising to Justin because he almost joined Marc in puking.

So, Justin now knows that Marc still has feelings for Cliff. Which probably explains why Marc has a voicemail from Cliff saying that he (Cliff) had an interesting visitor and can they meet?

Cliff didn't reveal the name or gender of the visitor, but Marc's willing to bet that it's a twink-in-training with a scissor-wielding mother who will likely kill Marc if she ever finds out he got drunk and talked about sex while said elf was around.

Why did he ever decide it was a good idea to help the tiny, swishy kid? Tiny, swishy kids eventually grow up, and then, they do things like visit the ex-boyfriend their mentor cheated on, and blast it, why didn't Marc just let Justin deal with the bullying and any potential sexuality crisis's that might have occurred (thank god, it seems there will be none) alone? Marc had to deal with all that alone, and he came out stronger and not prone to trying to do good deeds for it.

Sighing, Marc wonders what Betty (and when did he let that horribly dressed, oh-so-plucky-spirited girl become something of his conscience?) would do, and then, he wonders what Willie would do. Eventually, he does neither, deleting the voicemail and resolving to never, ever get drunk around swishy, almost grown fashions elves again.

...

"Hey!"

Marc looks up and gives the evil eye.

Justin's grin fades, but he still looks at Marc with wide, innocent eyes.

"So," Marc says, "you're banned from the closet, permanently."

Eyes widening, Justin says, a hint of steel in his voice, "I can tell Amanda about your plan to marry her and have-"

"Uh-bup," Marc says, springing up and waving his hands. "I can have Willie kill you."

"Wilhelmina knows who I am?"

"Way to completely miss the point," Marc answers, grumpily sitting down. "She doesn't need to know who a person is to have them killed. Trust me."

Pulling up a chair, the teenager sits down. "Have you talked to him, yet?"

"No, and nor am I going to."

"Why?"

Sighing, Marc reaches over and ruffles Justin's hair. "Justin, I- well, actually, I don't appreciate what you tried to do, but it is nice to have a friend like you. But this is something you really can't understand. As cliché as it sounds, I hope you never get to a point where you can."

A 'bitch, please' look is Justin's only response.

"Really," Marc says. "Beauty and the Beast is a terrible story. And if I hadn't cheated on Cliff, it wouldn't have mattered because he and I were never meant to be forever."

Putting his cheek on top of his curled hand, Justin looks at Marc closely. "I was a little kid when my grandmother died; I don't really remember much about her. But I remember her face. How she looked at Mom, Aunt Betty, Grandpa, and me. Whenever he talks about her, Grandpa still has that same look. Want me to tell you where else I've seen that look?"

Looking away, Marc shakes his head. "If that boy you're seeing, if he cheated on you, what would you do? How would you feel?"

When Justin doesn't answer, Marc opens up a folder and begins typing his newest assignment.

He's half done when Justin says, voice more sombre than usual, "I'd come to you. Other than that, I don't know. I guess it's different when a friend does something wrong to someone and when someone does the same thing to you," he says, sounding confused and philosophical.

"Welcome to the scary, horrible, only occasionally wonderful life of love, kid," Marc mutters. Then, he hopes Justin didn't hear him because Justin has plenty of time to get his heart broken and break hearts; he doesn't need to worry about all that right now instead of feeling the high that come with his first real love.

...

Let it be noted: Marc hates retrospect.

He should have known that conversation wouldn't be the end of things.

"Hi," Cliff says, somewhat awkwardly. "Can I come in?"

Smiling tightly, Marc steps aside and opens the door wider. He wonders what freaky supernatural powers Justin possesses; obviously, he inherited them from Betty.

His phone vibrates, and he looks down to see a text message. _good luck and whatever happens were still on for next months fashion show:)_


End file.
